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Thursday, June 7, 2012

I found this written on my son's iPod Touch in the 'Notes' app. He is 10 years old and says he wants to be a pastor when he grows up. Though that is entirely up to the Lord as to whether or not He will 'call' my son into vocational ministry, he certainly has a great heart and desire! He says he reads this when he is going through "hard times."

Perhaps it would be a blessing to you too:

"Jesus. He rules the earth. No matter what you do he still loves you. He is the one and only savior and one and only God. Because he rules the earth. He rules the earth. Jesus saves us and cares for us. Jesus rules everyone and everything and loves everyone and everything. Jesus is the master of everything.
Jesus is our savior and power he gives us strength through hard times and heals us when we are ill. Jesus is real and Jesus watches over us. Jesus is just truly amazing and powerful. If you make a mistake ask for forgiveness and Jesus forgives. Jesus created us like a potter makes pots Jesus is the potter we are the clay. Jesus protects us. Since we are Jesus' creations he loves us no matter what."

Friday, June 1, 2012

In 1 John 2:12-14 you see John writing to three different types of people, Children, Adolescents, Adults, but it's not about age it's about maturity and experience in Christ.

Hopefully all of you have wonderful childhood memories to hang onto. Hopefully these formative years were ones in which you experienced love, affirmation, discipline and all the things necessary to growing into a healthy well-adjusted individual.

Childhood is wonderful, but it's straight up weird if a teenager still acts like a baby. Let's take the image to the extreme...

"What is wrong with this guy's parents?!?!" we would all shout.

In spiritual growth the childhood years are wonderful, but if we read our Bibles (I know...crazy, right!?!) we see that it is the Lord's expectation for us to grow, to mature, to become more and more like Him.

Teens often think their parents are mean because they make them do things they don't want to do. Make them engage in situations that make them uncomfortable. Why do parents do this? Why does the Lord do this to us?

Because we are meant for more than we are. We are meant to be overcomers. (See 1 John 5:4; Romans 8:37) And the only way we learn to be overcomers is to...wait for it...overcome difficult (and even seemingly impossible) situations. If we do not learn to live as overcomers in our adolescence, it is much more difficult (but not impossible) to learn this character trait later on.

There are two ways areas in which we must learn to overcome. Ask the Lord to help you in these two areas. To live as an overcomer of self (sinful desires) (see 1 Corinthians 9:27), and to live as an overcomer of the World (this present evil age, world system, principalities and powers) (See 1 John 5:4; Ephesians 6:10-19)